Post by Ella.
A 20 minute walk from the center of El Calafate gets you to a lagoon that borders on Lake Argentina. We walked into a small shack that was the entrance. The care taker, a young guy, was sitting with some buddies around a wood burning stove having a raucous time. The entrance fee was a steep 10,000 ARS per person ($10), cash only, but surprisingly the guy volunteered that he would take U.S. dollars. I handed him a $20 bill that he held up to the light and scrutinized. It passed muster.
There is a nature trail around the lagoon with viewpoints for bird watching. Although, not all the way around. You can go about 3/4 of the way around but the last 1/4 is closed off. 3 km out and back, 2 hour walk the care taker said. Pretty slow walk, right? The wind was fierce, nearly knocked me off my feet once, but it was fun when we turned and got a tail wind.
There are tons of birds. From finches to flamingos, swans to kestrels. This is one of those times I wished for an actual camera with a telephoto lens. But then I’d have to be lugging it around.
